Principal Millington Among Finalists For Peabody Position

Swampscott High School Principal Layne Millington is one of three finalists for the principal position at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.

He and the other candidates will be interviewed in public by Peabody Superintendent Joe Mastrocola Jan. 28-30.

Principal Millington, formerly the assistant principal at Belmont High School, was hired by Swampscott Superintendent Lynne Celli and has anchored the school since July 2010.

We asked him for any thoughts he cared to share about his possible move to Peabody.

He said his experience with the students, faculty and parents at Swampscott High has been incredible.  

"Through their work, the school has grown immensely by every measure of achievement in an extraordinary way," he said.  "However, I am looking at my professional options for the sake of my family and to ensure my own professional growth."

Superintendent Celli said the principal and his team have done a phenomenal job at the high school. They have been supported by the district leadership team and by significant district resources in the wake of the school accreditation report in 2011.

The report was based on an earlier self study over nine months during the 2008-09 school year and noted improvements needed. They included greater community involvement and the way the budget was set. The report noted a need for consistent leadership since the school had been led by six different principals over nine years.

Superintendent Celli said any superintendent would prefer to have a consistent line-up of administrators but she wants her administrators to be happy and she will support them if they seek other opportunities.

She said some administrators seek different experiences to round out their professional experience.

She said she has worked in both suburban and urban districts and also sought out the vocational experience — all to assemble a balance of professional experiences.

If Principal Millington is successful and gets the Peabody job, she said, the district will seek an administrator to continue the district's progress just as it has at the Middle School and Stanley School where principals left for new jobs last year.

 The other two candidates for the Peabody adminsitratve post are:

• Eric Buckley, assistant principal at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School
• John Dillon, assistant principal for education services at Minuteman Regional High School

The new Peabody principal will replace Ed Sapienza, who officially retired last school year but agreed to return for one more year until a permanent hire was made.

Mastrocola said that following the interviews, he will complete background and reference checks before selecting the principal.

That person will then be announced to the School Committee first and then to the community, which Mastrocola hopes to do by Feb. 27.